Aside from the rare trip to a posh hotel with a rolltop, I very rarely have the opportunity to indulge in a relaxing lather in the bath.

Just to confirm, this feature isn’t about a lack of hygiene on my part (I assure you I shower daily, sometimes twice daily if I have been exercising or embarking on activities that require ahem, exertion).

Our previous house had a bath with a shower over, it was on the wonk, the water pressure was a joke and I simply never had the motivation to bother with it. Our new home has a much nicer tub in the family bathroom so I’m looking forward to using it, and we hope to extend and redecorate this particular room in the not too distant future. Investing in a REALLY fancy bath of some description is a particular requirement of mine when we embark on the re-design.

All said and done and dreamed about, I actually endeavoured to have an instagram-worthy soak on Tuesday evening in our rental property and failed miserably. The cottage has a contemporary tile-surround affair which offers lots of surface area for pretty flowers, fragranced candles and displaying new Chanel skincare products which I truly believe will make me all sexy and French.

It looked lovely. Yet when it came to actually luxuriating in the warm waters I realised I had absolutely sod all to put in the darn thing. I had remembered to pick up some pink roses and my favourite Neom “Complete Bliss” 3 wick, yet had forgotten the main ingredient. Bar having a scrub with my uninspiring yet irreplaceable Sanex body wash , I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do once I was in it either, and was subsequently bored after about 5 minutes.

I did not emerge resembling Vanessa Paradis. Just a bit hot and bothered with dry itchy skin and the desire to do something useful like unload the dishwasher or sort out the laundry. Perhaps that comes with motherhood – even “me” time requires a functional purpose.

What I would like to know is, what do you put in the bath? I love an oil but seem to recall they often leave an unpleasant residue on anything ceramic. Bubbles (unless of the alcoholic variety) don’t really interest me – I’m allergic to many scented products and the cleansing agents are often quite harsh on my overtly sensitive epidermis.

I’m quite taken with the idea of bath salts, has anyone tried these? Apparently Epsom are supposed to be wonderful.

Products aside, I’m having a small meltdown over what style of bath we should purchase for our renovation. Rolltops are undisputedly romantic and would fit with the period of our new adode, I’m just not convinced they are that practical. Where do you put all your stuff? I’m really not a fan of those shelf/storage trays that hook onto the edges. From an aesthetic perspective the aforementioned “boxed in” tile surround doesn’t really appeal either – even though there is no denying they offer plenty of space for accessorising.

What kind of bath do you have? And how do you actually relax in it?

Whilst you are reading this we will be on our family holiday at the Bedruthan hotel in Cornwall where I know there is a bathtub with my name on it – I’m counting on you brilliant lot to make my “me” time amazing.

No pressure.

You can follow our Cornwall adventures on my instagram.